Fill in the Gaps > Too many older people who are deafblind ... - Sense

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2 > Legal requirementsHow the Deafblind Guidance fits with:A) The Single Assessment ProcessThe Department of Health states that the purpose of the SingleAssessment Process (SAP) is to make sure that all older peoplereceive appropriate, effective and timely responses to their healthand social care needs. A key value of SAP is to make sure thatindividuals are at the heart of assessment and care planning. Theolder deafblind person’s account of their needs and their viewsand wishes should be kept at the centre of the process.The aim is that information about a person’s needs should onlybe given once, although the assessment, care planning and servicedelivery may involve a number of professionals and agencies.The assessment systems include the following broad types:• contact assessment• overview assessment, and• specialist assessment.To make sure that older deafblind people are properly included,it is important that their specific needs are recognised in thegeneric contact or overview assessments. If vital information aboutthe impact of deafblindness is missed at this stage, referral forspecialist assessment may not happen and the assessment will beincomplete and care planning inadequate.The Deafblind Guidancestates that assessment of adeafblind person should becarried out by a specificallytrained person or team sothat their particular needscan be explored in detail.This has the potential towork effectively withinSAP but requires genericassessors to be able torecognise deafblindnessand its effects and refer onappropriately.How to use SAP with older deafblind peopleThink dual sensory!• Every time you are assessing an older person, ask yourself whether theirneeds could be related to deafblindness.• Make sure you are trained to recognise deafblindness and its effects. At aminimum, everyone carrying out a contact or overview assessment shouldhave the Fill in the Gaps checklist for assessing older deafblind people.• Make sure you use good communication tactics which are useful with allolder people. (For information on communication tactics, see page 17).Make the link• As soon as an assessment identifies that there may be a dual sensoryloss, arrange a specialist assessment via the sensory team or otherspecialist agency such as Sense or Deafblind UK. Assessment and skillstraining by a specialist worker can lead to increased independence andenhanced quality of life.• Develop effective links with the sensory specialists in your localauthority and other specialist agencies.• Take training to develop your own skills in identifying the potentialindependent living skills of an older deafblind person.8
Information• Make sure you have good information about both national andlocal services.• Make sure information, letters and care plans are in accessibleformats (e.g. large print, Braille, tape or disk). For informationabout transcription services, see the Resources section. If yourSAP systems don’t record this information talk to your SAPco-ordinator about adding this.Communication needs• Be aware that some people may need a human aid withthem during assessment – an interpreter, communicator-guideor advocate.• Managers need to be aware of the cost and time implications.Extra time may be required to arrange interpreters. With orwithout interpreters, the assessment itself is likely to takeextra time because of the specific communication needs of adeafblind individual.The effort of concentrating on communicating for a prolongedperiod can be exhausting and may require more than one visit.For older deafblind people to be at the heart of assessment,managers must ensure there is some flexibility in meeting targets.Case Study: George, 73George is 73and visuallyimpaired withlittle usefulcentral vision.He is alsoseverely deaf, relying on twohearing aids to amplify speechand other environmentalsounds. But he struggles tofollow speech even in a quietenvironment.George and his wife hada supportive relationship andmanaged life well withoutsupport. However he appearsto have become depressedsince his wife’s death.His GP requests an assessmentbecause she is concernedabout his ability to cope on hisown. The overview assessmentis carried out and because theassessor has some awarenessof the particular difficultiescaused by combined hearingand vision loss, she is ableto focus some questionsspecifically on these issues.She realises that a specialistassessment is necessary andmakes the appropriate referral.Specialist assessmentidentifies key areas of provisionwhich promote independenceand choice for George.These include:• a vibrating pager systemto alert George to callers atthe door• a loop system to providesome access to the TV• skills training around safetyin the kitchen and homeenvironment• mobility training whichgives him the confidenceto go out alone in the localarea, and• weekly attendanceat a group for visuallyimpaired people where hiscommunication needs arecatered for.9
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Page 3 and 4: Fill in the Gaps >1 > Deafblindness
Page 5 and 6: deafdeafblindblindWhat is deafblind
Page 7: How many older people are affected?
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Page 14 and 15: 2 > Legal requirementsCase Study: H
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Page 24 and 25: 4 > ResourcesThere are a range of o
Page 26 and 27: 4 > ResourcesReferences:Butler, S J
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Fill in the Gaps > Too many older people who are deafblind ... - Sense

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